Numerous astronomic timepieces have been provided in prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,750,505 to Bulka; 4,583,864 to Graves; 4,711,583 to Oechslin et al.; 4,759,002 to Cash; 4,766,579 to Sporring; and 5,023,849 to Vaucher all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
The Bulka U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,505 discloses an astronomical clock. In an astronomical clock, a dial structure including an inner dial member having characters on the face thereof indicating the hours of the day. An outer dial member is disposed around the inner dial member and has characters thereon representing the calendar months and the days thereof. Hands are adapted for cooperation with the dial structures. Means for driving the hands includes a shaft supporting one of the hands and adapted for a revolution once in twenty-four hours. A rotatable sleeve is disposed around the shaft and adapted to carry the other of the hands. The sleeve being operatively connected to the shaft for rotation therewith in the ratio of 366 to 1. The inner dial being mounted on the sleeve for rotation therewith. The first mentioned hand cooperating the inner dial whereby to indicate the hour of the day, and the second mentioned hand cooperating with the outer dial whereby to indicate the day of the month.
The Graves U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,864 discloses a solar system clock. A novelty clock is provided wherein a spherical representation of the earth rotates about the face of the clock as would a second hand. While rotating about the face of the clock, the earth also rotates upon its own axis, thereby providing a more realistic and appealing visual effect. The special motion of the earth is achieved by a motion producing mechanism driven by the rotational force of the shaft which ordinarily drives the second hand of the clock.
The Oechslin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,583 discloses an astronomical wristwatch. A watch designed to display, by means of indicators several astronomical magnitudes. The indicators are driven by means of a planetary gear train which is rotatingly supported by means of a ball bearing within a support ring of the watch. The drive force, as well as the time reference, are provided by a work simultaneously driving the planet-wheel carrier of the planetary gear train and the gear clusters mounted thereon. Each of the clusters has a reduction ratio depending on the indicator it is intended to drive.
The Cash U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,002 discloses a clock. A clock having a housing which contains two internal discs and a motor for rotation of those discs on a shaft is disclosed. An hour disc is provided having a shaded region representing night and an unshaded region representing day. The hour disc is positioned to appear through an opening in the clock face. The face of the clock may have one or more openings to expose the minute and hour discs. One of the openings has a numerical representation of hours provided on the clock face there around. The clock is arranged so that the line separating the dark and light regions of the hour disc indicates the hour of day by pointing to a number on the face, and also graphically represents the amount of time from and to the previous and next sunrise or sunset.
The Sporring U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,579 discloses a timepiece having a control stem correcting mechanism with at least two setting positions. A basic clockwork, initially arranged in such a way as to comprise two supplementary indicators, of the date and of the days of the week, which have been removed, is provided with an additional module carrying supplementary indicators, which can number two, three or even four. These indicators being separate from the basic clockwork, their position can be chosen very freely by a constructor. In order to prevent having to provide the clockwork with one or several supplementary control members, for the correction of the indicators, a correcting mechanism of the basic clockwork, comprising a control stem operating a sliding pinion is used. A shaft of the sliding pinion has been extended up to a frame of the additional module and carries a pinion meshing, according to the sense in which the control stem is operated, either with a wheel belonging to a correcting gear train of one of the supplementary indicators, or with a pinion belonging to a correcting gear train of another supplementary indicator.
The Vaucher U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,849 discloses an astronomic timepiece and disc intended for use therein. The invention concerns an astronomic timepiece enabling a simple display of the daily value of an astronomic magnitude having an annual cycle. The timepiece comprises a month disc, at least a portion of which is visible through an opening provided in the dial. The development of the astronomic magnitude is represented in the form of a curve in a frame of reference one coordinate of which indicates the date and the other indicates a value of the astronomic magnitude.